Video: BlackBerry Demonstrates PlayBook Android App Player

A lot has been said about the BlackBerry PlayBook's app situation—or lack thereof. Reviews noted how not including native e-mail, contacts, and calendar apps was a major fail, and how the lack of apps available for download was also not a win. Then there was the rumor that the tablet would run Android apps. At the BlackBerry World 2011 conference, RIM's CEO Mike Lazaridis addressed all of those concerns.

Regarding the lack of BlackBerry's core communication apps, Lazaridis confirmed that sometime this summer the PlayBook will get native e-mail, calendar, and contacts apps via a software update. He even gave the audience a peek at what the apps would look like to let people know that they are indeed actually working on something.

The most interesting part of the presentation, however, was the demonstration of the PlayBook running Android apps. Through a virtual Android environment called the Android "App Player", the PlayBook will be able to run a number of Android apps. Judging from the above video, it looks to be pretty seamless. The PlayBook's native gestures will be worked into each app, and users will be able to download them directly from the App World store.